1. Getting the Most from Google Searches Ann Coulter, Southwestern Community College Karen Burns, SW District Office, Iowa Library Services December 2011

2. Why do people like Google? How does a search work? What makes a good search? Search tips (with examples): – General – Top 5 – More tips (maybe a fun one or two) How can we help patrons to do better searches?

3. Why do people like Google? Simple interface : Type in some words, get results

4. How does a search work? User formulates a search string Google searches web for pages/docs matching user’s search string Ranks those best meeting search string criteria at top of the list Other factors? geographic location search history

5. General Search Tips Keep it simple, not too many words Not too general--Descriptive words If at first you don’t succeed—tweak and try again Watch suggested search strings Stop words are not searched except…. Google defaults to “and” between words Google is case-insensitive (except OR) Google implicitly stems: plurals and other variations of words, automatically

6. Our Top 5 1.Translation 2.Asterisk 3.Tilde 4.Minus sign 5.Advanced search/options (region and date)

7. 1. Translation

9. 2. Asterisk (Without Asterisk)

10. “a dream * in the American dream”

11. 3. Tilde

12. 4. Minus sign

13. 5. Advanced Search OR

14. 5. Advanced Search (date)

16. Obama election

20. More Tips Weather search Calculator

21. Currency Converter Statistics

22. Maps Define:

23. Site:

25. Movie Earthquakes

26. Local Search Refrigerator contents

27. Helping patrons make better searches One-on-one with patrons Patrons in the physical library Patrons outside the physical library

28. One on One Talk through searches

29. Patrons in Physical Library Tip sheets Posters Mouse pads Bookmarks Cards

30. http://googleguide.com

31. Patrons Outside Physical Library “Tip of the Month” on website, FB Links to tip sheets Video tutorials “contest” or “quiz” on FB “Did you Know?” with fun tips as “hook”

32. Other Resources Google Guide—”cheat sheets”, guides to operands, etc. http://googleguide.com What puts a result at the top of the list? SEO “educated guesses” on Google ranking rules: http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/internet/google- ranking-factors.htm Class Resources Page: http://tinyurl.com/7hb2d4q

33. Questions? Karen Burns, SWILSA karen.burns@lib.state.ia.us quiltlibrarian on Yahoo, AIM; karen.burn55s on Meebo Ann Coulter, SWCC coulter@swcciowa.edu craftylibrarian2003 on Yahoo